This two track 7" translucent vinyl release features songs from Rosewater. This electro industrial debut comes from darkest heart of concrete voids of Riga's industrial suburbs.They are quite a bit more harsh than the some of the other Mindwerk label artists and also more quick-paced, Noise oriented and modernized. "Condomat" is heavy Power Noise with an EBM rhythm, awesome! Vocally it reminds me of some of those gothic/industrial bands but with heavier distortion. "Perpetual Dream State" begins with a more ambient tone but soon becomes a quick-paced hard metallic pound.

Amateur God is listed by Wampus Multimedia as an ambient techno artist from Slovenia as in compared to a possible soundtrack should David Lynch have directed a postmodern remake of Frankenstein. The artist himself lists several Goth, Rock, Electronic, and Industrial influences and calls his music dark-qausi-gothic-semi-vocal-ambient. The artist claims his project is sort of about closing your eyes, imagining the worst possible things you can, and mocking them. What Amateur God has produced is a type of industrial ambient similar to the Industrial equivalent of what Ethereal music is to the Goth scene. Standard hard metallic beats, droning ambience, mild vocal sampling, mellow acoustic guitar rhythms, piano, ambient electronica, and other eclectic elements combine to create something that might be like a softer Godflesh, darker Neubauten, harsher versions of Ethereal and even New Age elements - all combining to create an eclectic blend of dark mood music. It has the effect of what would probably make good horror film music and is sort of a milder version with a more industrial flavor of the type of mood you would get from Midnight Syndicate only not nearly as 'produced' and much harsher sounding. It's not a bad release but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Interesting musical concept but still in the amateur stages. I guess even gods can begin as amateurs huh. Maybe when this god is a bit more matured we will shiver in his presence - but not yet. Until then we will listen with anticipation.

Mindwerk Records, a still young dark industrial label that has not quite gotten the attention it deserves yet. This two track 7" translucent vinyl release features songs from the Danish ambient/drum-n-bass band Parkinson. The first song "Eden Hell" which appeared on the first demo disc by the label is a sort of dark industrial drum-n-bass with sampled metal guitar and darkly distorted vocals. I think this is a different mix from the other though as I don't remember parts of it but that could just be me. "Sch.Merz Vs Manson" has some hard driving guitar samples and beats much in the vein of KMFDM's Angst but darker and way more 'metal'. The vocals are a sort of deep grovelly distorted demonic sounding thing. This would make a great backing track for a hard driving action video sequence.

This two track 7" translucent vinyl release features songs from the one man project Pan. This project started in 2001 since his break with Dead State 81. The two tracks featured here are a bit slow going but the vocals strike a serious similarity to Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy when he's doing that sort of squeeling, whispery angst-ridden yell and in-your-face speech style. Fans will know what I mean especially when they hear this. The backing keyboard work also sounds like it could've been done in part by cEvin Key himself with some parts obviously purposely slowed down on "Grey". "Sewer" is a bit more up-beat with a sort of driving rhythm and vocal style like Skinny Puppy styled-rap (don't get confused here) you've heard Ogre do it before and it's not rap in the typical sense - it's more like rhythmic talking. This track also has some ambient backing which gives it a bit more body. I love the metallic-grind bass beat that comes in later.

Now, with Mindwerk Records this is the band that always gets me every time. Dead State 81 sounds like Skinny Puppy perpetually caught in the Remission time period. This is a sound that personally I could 'never' get enough of, not even from Puppy themselves as they quickly moved on to different things leaving this unique sound they created behind. Though many will rant about copy-cats there is much more to this project as they delve into realms untouched by the industrial music scene or any music scene for that matter. The style itself is experimental and lends easily to greater creative experimentation with a sound that is darker than most goth music, harder than most rock, and holds the beginnings of EBM while at the same time influenced by such things as horror film and the atmosphere that surrounds them. Sound-alike or no you can't help but be pulled in by the audio structure this band creates. I'm always left with a desire for more when I hear it!